Waterfall in the Roman Campagna

East of Rome, at Tivoli, the river Aniene drops from the edge of the hills in a string of falls, and in the 17th century the place drew painters as well as travellers. Gaspard Dughet knew it well. The country around Tivoli, with its cliffs, cascades and dense woods, was the scenery he liked best, and he often stayed there. In Turin this tall canvas is called simply a waterfall in the Roman Campagna, while another record describes it as a cascade near Tivoli. The gallery dates it to around 1656 or 1657. Water falls in steps through a rocky gorge toward a lake, with hills fading behind, and two herdsmen and their dog are small figures in the foreground. A second Dughet hangs in the same room, a flock of goats at the foot of a waterfall, which the gallery places a few years later, around 1660 or 1661.